ÁSTIN EIN TAUGAHRÚGA,
ENGINN DANS VIÐ UFSAKLETT

Love - The Opera

 

Ástin ein taugahrúga, enginn dans við Ufsaklett

Is a chambre opera for a mezzo soprano and a cellist composed by Anna Halldórsdóttir to the poetry of Elísabet Jökulsdóttir from the book with the same name.

What will a woman do to belong? To fit in, to feel accepted?

The story follows the inner journey of a woman and the battle of the dream and the reality. This battle is mirrored in a violent relationship from beginning to end and we wonder: What makes a “real woman” - and where is the key to everything?

—-

Hvað gerir man ekki til þess að tilheyra? Fá að vera með?

Verkið er þroskasaga konu og barátta draumsins við raunveruleikann. Þessi barátta er spegluð í ofbeldisfullu ástarsambandi frá upphafi til enda og við veltum fyrir okkur: hvað er það sem gerir man að “alvöru konu” -  Og hvar leynist hinn raunverulegi lykill að öllu saman?

It all started when Tinna went to a poet’s house for tea.

One day Tinna decided to buy a book of poetry as a birthday present for her friend and she thought, why not have it signed? So she contacted the poet, Elísabet Jökulsdóttir, who invited her in for tea. They started chatting and when the poet learned that Tinna was a singer she got her to improvise a melody to one of the poems and there they found out that actually this book of poetry was indeed libretto to an opera. The only thing missing was the music but with composer Anna Halldórsdóttir on board that was not a problem.

Then director Bergdís Júlía Jóhannsdóttir joined and the cellist Júlía Mogensen along with Arna Kristín Sigfúsdóttir producer and Juliette Louste Lighting designer and technician - as well as photographer Sóley Þorvaldsdóttir and designer Louis Crevier who created the outstanding poster to the performance

 

The team

ARTISTS

Voice: Tinna Þorvalds Önnudóttir
Cellist: Júlía Mogensen
Composer: Anna Halldórsdóttir
Text: Elísabet Jökulsdóttir
Director: Bergdís Júlía Jóhannsdóttir
Producer: Arna Kristín Sigfúsdóttir
Tech and light design: Juliette Louste

PERFORMANCES

Mengi, Reykjavík. January 29th (as part of Dark Music Days) and February 10th and 17th 2023.

SPONSORS

This project us funded by Tónskáldasjóður RÚV og STEF, Tónskáldasjóður Bylgjan and Stöð 2 , Menningarsjóður FÍH Félag íslenskra hljómlistarmanna, Samfélagssjóður Landsbankinn and Launasjóður tónlistarflytjenda at RANNÍS